Shuttle Flight Includes First Native American Astronaut

SDSM&T News
501 E. St. Joseph Street • Rapid City, SD 57701-3995
Phone: (605) 394-6082/2554 • Fax: (605) 394-6177
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2002
Contact: Steve Buchholz, Public Information Manager, 394-6082
Shuttle Flight Includes First Native American Astronaut
Commander John Herrington will become the first tribal registered Native American astronaut to fly in space when the Space Shuttle Endeavour launches next week.
Herrington, of Wetemku, Okla., spoke at the Crazy Horse Monument’s 50th Anniversary celebration. The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology awards a $1,000 scholarship every year in Herrington’s honor.
Endeavour is set to launch Nov. 11 on a mission that will carry the International Space Station (ISS) into its third year of permanent occupancy with a new crew and a new, 14-ton truss segment to enhance future cooling and power systems. Endeavour will launch between midnight and 4 a.m. EST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A precise launch time will be announced about 24 hours before liftoff.
Endeavour also will carry the Station's first port integrated truss segment, designated Port One. Together with the Starboard One truss installed in October, the Port One truss will provide additional station cooling and support for a massive power system that ultimately will hold almost an acre of solar panels to fuel a complex of orbiting laboratories. The Port One truss also includes the second of two human-powered railcars, called Crew and Equipment Translation Aid carts, to allow spacewalkers to quickly traverse a railway atop the truss.
Herrington is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. NASA selected him for its astronaut program in April 1996. Initially, Herrington was assigned to the Flight Support Branch of the Astronaut Office, where he served as a member of the Astronaut Support Personnel team responsible for Shuttle launch preparations and post-landing operations.
On the Endeavour mission, he will serve as flight engineer during launch and landing. He also will serve as extravehicular activity crewmember 2 for the three planned spacewalks.
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SDSM&T News
501 E. St. Joseph Street • Rapid City, SD 57701-3995
Phone: (605) 394-6082/2554 • Fax: (605) 394-6177
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2002
Contact: Steve Buchholz, Public Information Manager, 394-6082
Shuttle Flight Includes First Native American Astronaut
Commander John Herrington will become the first tribal registered Native American astronaut to fly in space when the Space Shuttle Endeavour launches next week.
Herrington, of Wetemku, Okla., spoke at the Crazy Horse Monument’s 50th Anniversary celebration. The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology awards a $1,000 scholarship every year in Herrington’s honor.
Endeavour is set to launch Nov. 11 on a mission that will carry the International Space Station (ISS) into its third year of permanent occupancy with a new crew and a new, 14-ton truss segment to enhance future cooling and power systems. Endeavour will launch between midnight and 4 a.m. EST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A precise launch time will be announced about 24 hours before liftoff.
Endeavour also will carry the Station's first port integrated truss segment, designated Port One. Together with the Starboard One truss installed in October, the Port One truss will provide additional station cooling and support for a massive power system that ultimately will hold almost an acre of solar panels to fuel a complex of orbiting laboratories. The Port One truss also includes the second of two human-powered railcars, called Crew and Equipment Translation Aid carts, to allow spacewalkers to quickly traverse a railway atop the truss.
Herrington is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. NASA selected him for its astronaut program in April 1996. Initially, Herrington was assigned to the Flight Support Branch of the Astronaut Office, where he served as a member of the Astronaut Support Personnel team responsible for Shuttle launch preparations and post-landing operations.
On the Endeavour mission, he will serve as flight engineer during launch and landing. He also will serve as extravehicular activity crewmember 2 for the three planned spacewalks.
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